the alert collector Neal Wyatt, Editor A Select Survey of Criminal Justice Administration and Criminology Resources for Research, Reference, and Collection Development Richard A. Stoddart, Brett This column illustrates the best of outcomes when colleagues Spencer, and Adrienne R. assist one another in developing subject expertise and in McPhaul, Guest Columnists building collections. As all of us in the collection develop- ment world know, crafting well-developed collections in subject-specific areas is a constant challenge. Taking up this Correspondence concerning this challenge in a subject specialty you do not know well is, column should be addressed to to put it lightly, a daunting prospect. When Rick Stoddart Neal Wyatt, The Alert Collector, c/o found himself in that position, he turned to Brett Spencer and RUSA, 50 E. Huron, Chicago, IL 60611; Adrienne McPhaul for assistance. Spencer and McPhaul have
[email protected]. Wyatt is almost ten years of criminal justice collection liaison experi- a collection development and readers’ ence between them, and both agreed to help Stoddart get up advisory librarian from Virginia. She to speed on critical materials for his collection. The result of wrote The Readers’ Advisory Guide their collaboration was a list of core resources as well as sev- to Nonfiction (ALA Editions, 2007) eral tables of comparisons between resources that can be used and is an editor of Library Journal’s not only to build collections but also to quickly see the scope “Reader’s Shelf” column and compiles and capabilities of each relevant database and resource. As we LJ’s weekly “Wyatt’s World Lists.” are called upon to work more frequently in areas we do not know well, it can only be hoped that we will follow the model Richard A.